Rest Of The World

“I didn’t write this one. I was looking for something a little more hopeful, or at least a track that was less angry. I wanted to end the album on a nice note – even though it’s not the last track, but we’re getting there. Although I liked the bluesy, Joe Cocker-type feel of this song, I was unsure of doing it at first. CJ wanted me to try it. We fought with it and tried it a bunch of different ways, and it finally ended up working out.

“It’s probably the commercial song on the record. From a guitar standpoint, it’s different for me, what with the reverse phase and the way I was playing the blues. I tried to Steely it up. It’s got a wicked Bernard Purdie/Jeff Porcaro shuffle. It grooves.

“That’s Nathan East playing bass. Man, talk about a guy who knows just what to do! He’s played with Toto on the last three tours. I’ve known him forever, since the first Randy Newman session we did together in 1980. Nathan's amazing – he walks in, does a couple of takes, and I’m like, ‘OK, you’re done.’ Guys on his level know what a song needs. You don’t even have to tell them anything. How can you not love that?”